Stella Makes Good

by Lisa Heidke

Allen and Unwin. Adult Fiction, Australian. Paperback RRP $29.99

Stella is happily separated from her husband. He has moved out and living with a new partner. Stella has the children and the house and everything is perfect.

Having a drink with her best friends, Carly and Jesse, at the local pub begins as an innocent catch up but ends with Carly and Stella discovering what the supposedly ordinary suburban neighbours get up to behind closed doors. All quite a giggle until a face in the crowd seems familiar.

Carly and Stella are torn between protecting their friend, Jesse, or revealing to her that, maybe, her life is all a lie. When all gets too much, Jesse seems to know the answer… but is it the right one?

One night changes everything for all three women. Carly starts to look at her own marriage and her and her husband’s fidelity. Stella reassesses her life and maybe Mike, the wonderful single doctor, is just what she needs, or is she waiting for the fall? Jesse is having trouble keeping her overworked husband happy at home and keeping herself sane. Let’s have another Chardy…

This is a funny but frank and honest look at life, and what we make of it. There is danger, excitement, suspense and romance. In the end do we really want to know the truth?

I read Stella Makes Good in a single day. I was swept up in the drama surrounding the three women and could easily relate to all of them. My problem with this book is that it was too short and I wanted more. I will now search out more of Heidke’s novels.

http://lisaheidke.com/